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[return to "EU data regulator bans personalised advertising on Facebook and Instagram"]
1. pembro+eb[view] [source] 2023-11-02 11:52:38
>>pbrw+(OP)
Ok, my contrarian hot take (for HN at least). The real entities we need to be afraid of in regards to privacy are governments & politicians, not companies & entrepreneurs.

The worst thing a company can do is try to sell you more soap. The government on the other hand can literally ruin your life (or even end it in some countries).

The EU is doing a fantastic job of keeping everyone distracted by pointing the finger at the "evil American tech companies" while simultaneously doing the opposite when it comes to privacy from government...which is the real threat.

I could point to many instances of this but the easiest one is the EU commission currently pushing a ban on encryption.

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2. squigz+fc[view] [source] 2023-11-02 11:57:34
>>pembro+eb
Can you elaborate on how a government can 'ruin your life', while a company can't?

This might be hard to grok, but we can actually be aware of both threats without minimizing the seriousness of either.

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3. pembro+Xe[view] [source] 2023-11-02 12:13:45
>>squigz+fc
Governments have a monopoly on violence. And as history has proven (especially in the EU), they tend to use it.

Even in good times, in countries with mostly balanced institutions, the government can lock you up in prison and throw away the key if you piss off the wrong people.

On the other hand, I can assure you the only thing Unilever is aspiring to do is get you to buy more toilet bowl cleaner.

And I know the rebuttal will be..."but stupid people (not me of course) will get duped into buying more toilet bowl cleaner than they actually need!"

While that is indeed a huge burden of responsibility to place upon all the people you think are less intelligent than you, I think they will be okay.

As history has shown, the real risk is the government telling me exactly how much toilet bowl cleaner I get to use.

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4. squigz+ng[view] [source] 2023-11-02 12:22:28
>>pembro+Xe
I have a hard time taking this post seriously since you've now mentioned soap ads twice, as though that's the threat here.
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